SC rejects all petitions calling to declare 2013 elections void

By Abdul Shakoor Khan

Updated about 3 hours ago

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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed all petitions calling to declare the May 2013 General Elections as void.

The decision issued by the apex court read that petitions demanding last year's general elections to be declared void at large were non-maintainable as tribunals were in place to address grievances pertaining to elections on various seats.

The court referred to Article 225 of the Constitution on election disputes which says that complaints pertaining to elections are to be resolved by the concerned tribunals.

Three petitions had been filed in the apex court in this regard by Kokab Iqbal Advocate, Zahir Sarfaraz and a former Supreme Court judge Justice (retd) Mahmood Akhter Shahid Siddiqui.

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Former Secretary General Election Commission of Pakistan Afzal Khan also appear before the court.

The petitioners had pleaded before the court to order fresh elections and had argued that the magnetic ink used in last year’s polls was defective. They had furthered asked that action be initiated against ECP officials and others involved in the purchase of the faulty ink.

The petitions also accused ECP members, Returning Officers and Presiding Officers for not following the statutory pre-requisites during the electoral process.

The Supreme Court's decision comes at a time when opposition parties led by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) have been carrying out anti-government demonstrations in protest of alleged rigging in the 2013 polls.